Unfree on Unsplash?

What now for finding your perfect image?

The image above is a composite of original digital painting, a photo of the milky way I took myself and two images provided by NASA via Unsplash of the surface of the moon and an astronaut.

NASA provided a number of amazing pictures for Unsplash available for anyone to download for free. Many photographers joined, providing high quality images without taking any fees.

Many images on Medium are from this source. No recompense is expected or asked for, just acknowledgement of the source and artist.

I have a few of my own photos on there, they have been downloaded thousands times. I’m pleased that they have proved so useful.

Now, Unsplash has been bought by Getty and the landscape has changed. Will Getty use the platform as a marketing tool to advertise paid for images? If so, I want no part of that. Will those NASA images, totally unique as they are, suddenly be available only at a price? I may be downloading the one’s I like before that reality hits!

In my selfish moments, when I wonder where the money for the next bill is coming from, I wish I could…